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Rural DL man accused of terrorizing woman with loaded rifle

Dell Donald Holm, 51, of 25578 East Island Lake Road, Detroit Lakes has been charged in Becker County District Court with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and making terroristic threats, both felonies.

On May 6 law enforcement officers obtained a search warrant for his residence after he was accused of making threatening and harassing phone calls to his daughter regarding he and his wife's recent separation.

His wife and daughter, afraid for their safety, did not disclose their location to Holm, who repeatedly called them on their cell phones and contacted others in an attempt to track them down, according to court records. He was intoxicated at the time of the calls.

When officers arrived at his residence, no one answered the door. Based on information that he had a number of guns, was possibly drunk, and posed a threat to himself or others, officers entered by force. Holm could not be found.

A niece of Holm's had followed one of the deputies to his residence to help locate him by calling his name and calling his phone.

She stayed behind after the officers left, and a short time later the niece saw him hiding in the woods wearing a black cap and camouflage jacket.

He came out of hiding after the officers left, extremely irate that they had entered the house. He allegedly began yelling and swearing at his niece, while holding a semi-automatic rifle in his hands. The niece allegedly heard him insert a shell into the rifle, then point the rifle directly at her, yelling "why did you bring them here and what did you tell them?

The rifle was a foot from her chest. He was swearing profusely and smelled strongly of liquor, but she was able to talk him into putting the rifle down.

He allegedly continued yelling and screaming and begin making threats about the niece's mother, how he should shoot her because no one in the family loved him.

He allegedly told her that while he was hiding in the woods he had one officer in his gun sights and would have shot him "so this could all end," but didn't because the niece was there.

He then talked about being set up and vowed he would not go to jail or treatment and someone would have to kill him first.

The niece was able to leave the residence and reported it to the sheriff's office. She was so scared she had to stop the vehicle and vomit a number of times before reaching town.

Holm was subsequently arrested without incident. A search of the property revealed that he had 16 loaded weapons.

He appeared Friday before District Judge Peter Irvine, who set bail at $200,000 and set his next court appearance for May 19.